478 Gang
NOW Entertainment – When passion meets preparation
When passion meets preparation, excellence is undoubtedly assured. Such is the drive that inspires a group of talented teenagers who set out early in life to pursue what was to become one of the fastest growing establishments in the entertainment industry.
Their story was not without its ups and downs but with shoulders up and head high; they march on with their focus completely intact.
Tony M Fountain has the trait of a hustler for having stayed long in the street. In a bid to ensure he remains on the right path, his mum usually sends him a preacher who led to the nickname ‘Precha’ given by his friend Rico after he had found this out. At this point, Precha was a teenager in about his 7th grade.
This signals the beginning of what would be a tumultuous journey for Precha and his friend Rico as they would instead engage in a rap duel during school hours than study; a subconscious way to improve their rap skill.
More so, Precha attended talent shows, whatnot and eventually almost teaming up with Dark House Ent. As the struggle was always meant to be tough, at that time, he had just become a father and purchased a new vehicle. However, he was advised to sacrifice his luxury for the hustle by hitting the road with his newly acquired car: an exercise with no assured profit in the beginning but at that time, he rejected the advice, but his team went on to open for major acts.
Precha stayed off music for a couple of years thinking about his possible line of action. As fate would have it, he ran into an old classmate named Kryke Kooly, a talented fellow with a similar drive for music which eventually revived his interest in music. Kryke also introduced him to others who rap in the neighborhood one of which was Kryke’s brother, Excluzive. They team up in pursuance of their shared dream by learning various skills like graphic design, search engine optimization, social media marketing and other useful skills to build their company.
The company was formed initially in a trailer park in Gordon, a city in Wilkinson County in Georgia. The same County child star Honey Boo Boo, Pro football star Bud Dupree & pro baseball player Kevin Brown (who is actually related to Tony) are all from Excluzive, being an experienced member who had been on the road doing shows and whatnot with a spin-off group of the Nappy Roots called Stick Boys, brought so much to the table. He has an immense contribution to the experience he has.
Precha enrolled to study Music Business management at Full Sail University but was unable to proceed because he couldn’t afford it. He, however, didn’t drop out empty-handed because he learned video editing and how to build the computer that they use for their production.
One of Precha’s last assignment was to interview someone in the entertainment industry; a task which turned out to be a great exercise. He selected and interviewed a blind jazz musician and studio owner named Joey Stuckey. Joey recorded Precha’s first song back when he was around the age of 13 and at that time, all Joey had was a computer and a microphone in the closet. When he went to conduct the interview, Precha noticed how much Joey had grown and also had developed some program for the blind to make music.
Joey also had a segment on the morning news and even a full studio with a green screen for podcast production and videos. Joey was also on the Georgia music hall of Fame Board. Joey’s record of hard work and success blew his mind. During the interview, Joey encouraged him to pursue his musical career that his inability to complete his study is not an impediment- after all, skills and knowledge in the music industry is practical- but he has to network with the right people to learn all the skills needed to thrive in entertainment industry which can be graphic design, production and more. Joey rounded out the interview off by encouraging him to be free with all and not necessarily specialize in anything that he will make it.
Joey’s advice was the wakeup call that revived his hustling spirit. Precha stayed up most nights until 3 or 5 am after which he would resume working at 7 am. He worked double shifts to save up to establish the company and buy equipment which was either store displays for which he got a discount or used ones from eBay which he had to repair.
Precha knew Troy Thomas from the neighborhood nicknamed Gudda who had begun American Hustle apparel. Troy’s relentless effort in ensuring the successful establishment of his brand resonated with Now Entertainment’s after which they also decided to start selling the American Hustle brand. Throughout the years, Precha had learned the give and take, an aspect of networking and have worked with artist like Ruslan and Shotgun Shane among others, acquiring the necessary tips and tricks as well as creating the connection to develop one another.
Their relentless effort was inspiring so is their drive to be the best. This is why they progress on all fronts.
Music, as they say, is a universal language. This is why Now Entertainment is currently working on improving their app on Google Play and developing the iOS version to make their work accessible to all.
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Available on Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/officialnowent/sets/478-gang-vol-1